Driving with fog-lamps on, headlights off!

This is a discussion on Driving with fog-lamps on, headlights off! within Street Experiences, part of the Buckle Up category; I've come across such instances since long but the one today rubbed it totally in.
Earlier on, fog lamps were ...

I've come across such instances since long but the one today rubbed it totally in.

Earlier on, fog lamps were incorporated because they had a specific purpose : improve visibility during rains/fog. Now, it is a status frill on a car. So, you'll have fancy fog lamps just because the car looks cool.

Though all this is fine, some clowns go an extra step and use ONLY the fog lamps. While some have at least a pea-brain to keep at least the parking lights on, some don't even bother doing that.

I feel this is disastrous as the oncoming vehicle cannot gauge the exact boundary of the vehicle. Headlights are the extreme ends, hence the oncoming vehicle gets an idea of the distance to be maintained. With just the fog lamps being used, whose position can vary (even in the centre of the bumper at times), one will just not know if it is a M800 or a Sumo (in case of un-lit streets).

So, you either put on the high beam and blind that guy or risk finding out what vehicle it is the hard way.

How have others' experiences been?

PS : This is quite alike when truck/cabs have only 1 headlight operational and of course the left one - again, you've no clue how big the vehicle is!

I drive around a lot with just the fogs on, since I feel that it blinds people less than the headlights, especially in the city in decently lit roads. additionally, all OE fogs will turn on only if the parking lights are on. additionally, most OE fogs are at the periphery of the car.

I have never experienced this at night time. In fact, I have seen some clowns using their fog lamps in the daytime to show off!

I would prefer the blinding method if I ever face this situation. Better safe than sorry. But you made a good point. It is quite difficult to make out if its a small or big vehicle, and presents a dangerous situation on a highway. Fortunately though, most vehicles' fog lamps are located below the front grill almost at the left/right bottom ends of the bumper and give away some idea about the vehicle size.
I have seen a few cars with those huge yellow bulbs, especially SUVs fitted with these on the centre of the front crash guard bar. THEY might present a problem with only those "Fog lamps" switched on- might get mistaken for a 2 wheeler for instance

+1 to what greenhorn said. I doubt fog lamps can be switched on without parking lights.

I've seen umpteen no. of cabs which use large lamps rather than the headlights. And considering the way they drive, it is anyone's guess what will happen if the oncoming vehicle makes the slightest error in judging its size.

I saw the 1st gen Wagon-R; there were not even the parking lights on.

If the fog lamps are aftermarket, they won't depend on the parking lights, right?

I've seen umpteen no. of cabs which use large lamps rather than the headlights. And considering the way they drive, it is anyone's guess what will happen if the oncoming vehicle makes the slightest error in judging its size.

I saw the 1st gen Wagon-R; there were not even the parking lights on.

If the fog lamps are aftermarket, they won't depend on the parking lights, right?

True. In fact I've seen many cabs where the headlight is removed and they put some kind of blinking multi-coloured lights in the headlight bulb cavity. Those small lamps keep flashing red, blue and green but produce no useful light beam. Indicabs & Tempo travellers are notorious for this

Most aftermarket dealers wont even have the concern/interest in wiring it to come on with the parking lamp. They just would want to make sure the "fog lamps" somehow come on, and wash their hands off the issue

When you are in heavy fog situation, it is advisable to keep head lights off and fogs on. Of course, keep the parking lights on too.

In heavy fog, head lights create a white wall in front of you since they can diffuse the light much deeper into the fog. Where as proper fog lamps have wide but shallow throw, resulting in much less light diffusion.

However, it is dangerous to use only fog lights when there is no fog. Fog lights illuminate at the most 20 meters, and since the driving is slow in heavy fog, it doesn't matter. But in clear conditions, the driving speed will be much faster and 20 meter illumination is not adequate. The head lights which have much longer range must be turned on at higher speeds.

Though all this is fine, some clowns go an extra step and use ONLY the fog lamps. While some have at least a pea-brain to keep at least the parking lights on, some don't even bother doing that.
So, you either put on the high beam and blind that guy or risk finding out what vehicle it is the hard way.

The OE fog lamps would come ON only if the parking lights are ON unless you change the wiring configuration.

What is more distracting is when some one put a higher watt setup in the fog lamp and come against you, all lights blazing.

It is not fair enough to blind anyone with your high beams on the sole reason that he is on his normal fogs alone.

I guess the OP is referring to lights such as Hella Rallye's. Is it Nishad?. If so, yes, they are non OE and can be wired to light without lighting the park lights. And yes, its definitely risky to drive with only those ON.

OE Fog Lamps, like most pointed out, are turned ON along with the park lights. So, that should not be an issue.

I guess the OP is referring to lights such as Hella Rallye's. Is it Nishad?. If so, yes, they are non OE and can be wired to light without lighting the park lights. And yes, its definitely risky to drive with only those ON.

OE Fog Lamps, like most pointed out, are turned ON along with the park lights. So, that should not be an issue.

Yes i think that is correct. The reference is to non OE fog lamps. Because the OE fog lamps are hardly of any use. They do not even improve my visibility forget about blinding the person coming from the front. I am referring to Indica Vista here.

Yes i think that is correct. The reference is to non OE fog lamps. Because the OE fog lamps are hardly of any use. They do not even improve my visibility forget about blinding the person coming from the front. I am referring to Indica Vista here.

Its the same case with other cars too. If am not able to judge the vehicle I'd rather use my high beams than landing up in an unpleasant situation. More often than not, I see either fog and parking on or all lights on than just the fogs on !!

Geniuses driving with some lamps (plural intended) are a percent better than ones driving with no or 1 lamp on !!

I drive with the stock fogs and one big Hella upfront, since the projectors I have are rotten to say the least. The Hella on my SwifDy is mounted below the center-grill and I ensure it always points to the road and doesnt hit oncoming traffic (to a larger extent). I feel this gives me better visibility than the projectors Low-beam (I dont use Hi beam at all).

I am sure its unpleasant to the car ahead of me, when I go over speed-breakers but even the stock headlights are!

I've come across such instances since long but the one today rubbed it totally in.

Earlier on, fog lamps were incorporated because they had a specific purpose : improve visibility during rains/fog. Now, it is a status frill on a car. So, you'll have fancy fog lamps just because the car looks cool.
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PS : This is quite alike when truck/cabs have only 1 headlight operational and of course the left one - again, you've no clue how big the vehicle is!

Actually, fog lamps are used to light up road surface with least diffraction so, in fog or rain you can see where you are going. and by their this virtue they are very useful on indian roads where potholes, speedbrakers without any warning sign, even stones and things fall down from other vehicles are laying on our so called Highways. I use them on highways too.

About the trucks/cabs having only their left/right light ON, i am not sure what's the purpose of only one light. they might be saving power, going green. i don't know. though for right light ON(i am talking about on-coming traffic) i have reached to my own inference that they might be just being nice because they always use Highbeam and to avoid blinding others and still able to see the extremities of highway! so, you see they are good guys.

I had a pair of fog lights with 100w halogens on the Bolero. I typically used them on two occasions:

1. Night drives through forests. The wild elephants have this habit of playing hide and seek behind trees. Nobody knows why, but they love to stand on the inner radii of curves (roads). The headlights kind of scatters away the light, especially in the forests with tress adding to the shadows. The fogs have a real long throw, which makes it easier to identify objects at night.

2. I must admit, I am guilty as per the thread starter.
There are quite some morons on our highways who come on with blinding lights, especially those TTs and the yellow board Indicabs and Sumos. A nice dose of pencil beams at them would do the trick. And yeah, the park lights are on by default.

Gulp! if they have long throw, such lights are useless in real fog driving. Check post #6.

Agreed, as its the case with the OE fog lights in my Accent. But, then the primary objective of fitting those fog lights (pardon the terminology) in the Bolero was to get a longer throw of light.
Probably, I should be calling them driving lights rather.